Drogba: Time to take responsibility

Didier Drogba stopped short of telling Chelsea to "man up" ahead of their Champions League clash at Napoli but called on his team-mates to take responsibility for getting their season back on track.

PUBLISHED: 08:56, Tue, Feb 21, 2012

Didier Drogba [PA]

Didier Drogba stopped short of telling Chelsea to "man up" ahead of their Champions League clash at Napoli but called on his team-mates to take responsibility for getting their season back on track.

It is almost deja vu for the Blues, a year on from last season's Champions League last 16 first leg at FC Copenhagen when they were in another mid-season malaise. That saw captain John Terry call on his team-mates to "man up", which they did during a 2-0 win in Denmark.

Twelve months on and the build-up to another opening knockout phase match has been dominated by talk of crisis at Stamford Bridge. Drogba said: "I think we are all responsible for the results. Chelsea Football Club is responsible for the results, and I think we all have to play our game. The players have to play their game."

The striker added: "The good thing in football is that there's always another game to change the bad moment, the difficult moment."

That moment has certainly lasted four winless games, while it could be argued it stretches back even further, with Chelsea having won only four of their last 13 matches.

The bad run has mostly coincided with Drogba's absence at the African Nations Cup.

The 33-year-old, who is expected to replace Fernando Torres in attack against Napoli, said: "Even when I was there, we were struggling to score goals.

"We have talent. We have goalscorers here. The players want to put the ball in the net.

"The most important thing for me is to create chances. The more chances you create, the more possibilities you have to score."